"Dramatic Macaroni & Cheese" is but one example of the comedic talent that has brought Dave Urlakis reviews on the national level on the Huffington Post and other places.

The Naperville native is carving a career for himself as a comedian even as he still works a full-time job.

Urlakis currently is paired with Sean Cusick in a sketch show, "Questionable Lullabies," at Chicago's Stage 773 on Fridays..

Urlakis was born and raised in Naperville, he said, which has been fodder for jokes, but he didn't think about working in theater until seeing a production of the musical "Oliver!"

"At the time, I said to myself 'that looks like fun.' After I started doing plays in high school, I decided that was something I wanted to continue doing," he said.

Following performances in the musical "Oklahoma," Urlakis said he knew he wasn't much of a singer. He then tried Shakespeare and some experimental theater, and started doing improv comedy at iO and the Second City.

"That's what I've had the most fun doing, and it's what I feel myself gravitating toward," said Urlakis, 31, who has lived in Chicago for the past nine years.

Urlakis graduated with honors in theater and economics from Knox College in Galesburg. He works at Chicago's Jellyvision Lab, the firm responsible for a video trivia game in the 1990s called "You Don't Know Jack."

"The Jellyvision Lab is a kind of spinoff from the game, but for the corporate world," Urlakis said. "It uses that interactive host style to make interactive conversations for Microsoft, for example, to help people pick a laptop computer, or for Aetna on how to pick the right health insurance. I'm the director of marketing and analytics."

After work, he and Cusick perform skits such as one in which Captain Amazing uses bad grammar to explain how his former nemesis, Doctor Destruction, has turned over a new leaf.

"We work together to fight against the forces of evil," Cusick says. "On these principles we are in agreeance."

"That's 'agreement,'" Urlakis corrects, "We're in agreement."

"If you need assistance, you can count on Doctor Destruction and I," Cusick continues.

Urlakis began performing at the Comedy Shrine, an improv club in Aurora near the Westfield Mall. He met Cusick during his two years performing a sketch show called "Best Church of God."

"It was a kind of Colbert Report for church," Urlakis said. "We did sketches and scenes that revolved around the hypocrisies that are present in religion."

For example, one skit took the 19 Oscar–nominated movies for that year and showed each one breaking one of the 10 Commandments.

"We played around with whatever was in the zeitgeist of the moment and filtered that through the lens of people who seem way too religiously motivated in terms of their world view," Urlakis said.

One of Urlakis' earliest comedic influences was Looney Tunes cartoons, he said. "Later, as I got older, I came across other material like Monty Python and Second City routines. I also liked classic television comedies like 'Cheers' and 'Bob Newhart,'" he said.

As a fan of the "Carol Burnett Show," Urlakis recalled the deadpan delivery of Tim Conway in a classic skit when he ad-libbed about Siamese elephants joined at the trunk. He also enjoys comedians such as the Emmy Award-winning Louis C.K, Stephen Colbert and the late Mitch Hedberg.

"I think Key and Peele are very good," he said. "It's nice to see more sketch comedy on Comedy Central."

Urlakis is planning for the upcoming Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival, a two-week-long event in January. He is part of the improv group Batterymouth at ComedySportz Chicago and creator of the Awkward Spaceship channel of YouTube videos.

Despite the new arc of his comedic career, Urlakis also plans to stick with his day job.

"Continuing to do both careers sounds lovely," Urlakis said. "I'm just really interested in continuing to do challenging, interesting work. That's where Sean and I are a great pairing because we challenge each other to do the best work possible.

"We're not looking for the easiest joke. We're comfortable with going places that other people might find uncomfortable, and try to find the 'funny' there. It would be great to find a larger megaphone to reach larger audiences, but I'm comfortable with where we're at right now and to see where that takes me."

Questionable Lullabies runs through Nov. 16 at Stage 773, 1225 West Belmont Avenue, Chicago. For more information, go to Stage773.com.